Haunt your family (and the internet) by livestreaming your funeral

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Nearly a fifth of funeral homes across the country have offered some sort of livestreaming service for the funerals they hold. That’s according to a report in Ars Technica, where the tech is being used to let more people join in on the remembrance of loved ones, even if they’re unable to travel.

In an industry resistant to change of any type, the increasing number of funeral directors offering this service is an outlier. This change shows how much livestreaming and video calling has become part of our daily life.

Livestreaming your funeral might not be as crazy as it sounds

Some religions require the funeral to happen as quickly as possible, which makes it difficult (or impossible) for everyone to attend. Using livestreaming tech to broadcast the service to those people lets them join in on the remembrance of their loved ones.

• Livestreaming also provides with a digital archive of the service, for mourners to revisit the kind words and stories told
• It’s invaluable for anyone with extended families overseas, or in another part of the country
• One chapel in Southfield, Michigan says that 85-percent of families opt for the livestreaming service

It’s interesting reading that even pros have encountered the same issues as your favorite livestreamers. For example, funeral homes have long paid license fees for the music they play during their services. What many didn’t know, is that they had to pay additional licensing to be able to stream those same songs, just like your favorite streamers.

Will we get to a point where all funerals, as well as every other aspect of our lives, are streamed?

What do you think? Is this a good idea or does it seem a bit strange? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• You can now use Siri Shortcuts on your Neato robovac
• Tesla’s ‘dog mode’ doesn’t work unless your AC is set to automatic
• Lyft halts e-bike operations in San Francisco after a handful of battery fires
• The Impossible Burger is coming to a Burger King near you

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.